Author's Note

I took a long break from this after loosing the heart to keep writing it, and I didn't know if I wanted to or should continue it. I'm sorry if I left everyone waiting for so long, but I do want to keep writing it if everyone still wants to see more of it…

Uploaded

03/21/2025

LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts/Receiving coms.

Chapter 52

Rated-M

M rating for blood, and language, and violence, and romance, and adult themes.

Music of the day

Metroid Prime 3 - Pirate Homeworld

Location / Infinity / Requiem airspace

Six months plus since the Didact's defeat

The loud hum of the Hornet blades roared overhead as he surveyed the site of the battle, his grip tightening around the metal railing as the aircraft flew in a holding pattern just above the giant green armored creature below. A thick black smoke had filled the air during the battle, the air steadily growing a putrid color as the seconds ticked onwards.

"Put us down." The words left his mouth with a stern grunt, not even turning to look at the pilot beside him. Acknowledging his order, the young officer quickly swung the Hornet around and decreased power to the engines, the craft quickly returning to the ground.

He didn't even wait for it to touch down before vaulting off the side of the railing, shock absorbing armor easily dampening his fall as he hit the ground with a slight bend to his legs. The legendary man's eyes widened behind his visor as he gazed upon the massive creature that stood before him, her long multi-plated neck craning around to face him upon sensing his approach.

His breath hitched slightly, stuck in his throat as she loomed over him, a mouth so massive she could swallow him whole. He wasn't afraid of her, at least outside of the respect one should give such a dangerous creature, but merely in awe.

Twelve eyes blinked down at him, six from either side of her head as she focused on the smaller creature before her.

Instincts propelled him forward, raising his hand up, palm facing her. The ground shook with every step she took, the alien rumbling from her throat almost akin to a pleased feline. The width of her forehead brushed up against his palm, gaze softening.

He smiled, not that anyone could see it. "Good job, Samus…" He muttered, thumb brushing against her armored exoskeleton.

The beast rumbled lowly, beginning to glow a bright yet strangely familiar white. His suit automatically adjusted his visor's polarity to compensate, but even then once it reached its peak he had to shield his eyes. It lasted for a brief yet agonizingly long few moments, before it began to fade away.

The man blinked to adjust his eyesight, watching as the mighty beast began to recede upon herself, shrinking down and down, slowly regaining that familiar humanoid form he'd come to appreciate. The light faded away, revealing the green armored Metroid Queen once more.

Samus blew out a sigh behind her visor, long bladed tail whipping around vigorously behind her before it came to wrap itself around her armored waistline. She leveled a smile at the man standing in front of her, before her attention drew skyward to the Hornet looming overhead.

"Chief, Samus, get aboard! Captain wants to see you." The pilot called out, hovering feet from the ground.

Samus nodded firmly, realizing that it was far too soon to celebrate as she boarded the side of the aircraft, Chief quickly joining her. Nothing more was said as it took off to the skies above, leaving the blackened world below as it made a new heading for the Infinity flying nearby. Fire and ash covered the world below, a stark reminder of just how far one needed to go in order to stop even a chance of the Flood escaping.

"Half of Africa was glassed by the Covenant during the end of the war just to stop this from spreading…" The Spartan spoke up, having noticed her gaze he felt the need to speak. "It was all covered up to stop those who didn't need to know from finding out."

Her eyes narrowed. "Pandemonium. The panic would be too much to handle." She spoke in understanding, getting a brief but curt nod from the man beside her.

"This world is on a collision course with its sun. Hopefully this will be the last we see of them." He cast his gaze skyward to the gaping hole in the outer rim of the world, the sun growing ever closer.

"I wouldn't count on it." She muttered to herself, saying nothing else as they approached the docking bay. The familiar blue hue of the landing bay's shields flashed over them as they passed through, many other Hornets already landing beside them.

The captain was waiting…

"Samus, Chief… Good, you're both back." Upon entering the command deck, Andrew was quick to address them. He tried to appear stern in the face of the heavy situation, yet he couldn't stop the smirk that broke out across his aged face. "You did good out there, Ma'am." He said, addressing the woman in particular.

Samus blinked at the compliment, before nodding a cordial look, a smile on her face. "Of course, sir." She replied with a smile.

"I'd say job well done but I'd also have to ignore the elephant in the room by not inquiring about what happened down there." The aged man hummed lowly, more than a little curious about her gargantuan transformation. "This form that you'd dawned…? What was that?"

Samus flushed a tad beneath her helmet but responded in stride. "That was my true form."

"And the reason you decide to look like a human instead?" He questioned just as fast.

"I'd rather not squish you and your people, Captain. I'm afraid I've grown quite fond of them." She smiled behind that baleful red visor of hers.

The captain nodded to himself, more than a little relieved that the disastrous situation with the Gravemind had been stopped before it could get out of hand. He knew that without the woman standing before him that he and his crew would've probably been dead three times over by now, so it was expected that he'd be grateful to her and her services thus far. This planet had taken a lot from him already, yet he also knew that special bonds had been forged here as well. Something he had confirmed some time ago and was only reaffirmed now as his eyes drew down to the woman's tail, watching as it unconsciously wrapped itself around the Spartan's inner thigh with an apparent possessiveness.

When this was all said and done he was going to order 117 to take a leave. He'd done enough, and this war had already ended years ago. What was happening here and now was the bitter struggles of a dying animal that refused to see that it had lost, but Jul Madama's Covenant wouldn't last long, fractured as it already was.

Still, though, there was things that needed to be resolved before the planet went up in flames. "I don't know what happened, if it was the Gravemind's fault or something else entirely, but Requiem isn't long for this universe. Cortana estimates that we've got less than forty six hours until it collides with its start." Andrew explained gruffly.

"That's more than enough time to evacuate all friendly personnel off this planet, research stations included." Samus muttered, realizing that there was probably more to it than that. Then she had another question. "The UNSC wasn't here for the Flood, nor the Covenant remnants scattered about. So why are you here?" She leveled her gaze at the stoic looking man, Del Rio's gaze hardening as he turned back to the holographic table.

He punched in a few keys, bringing up a compilation of missing data that when placed together revealed a map of all seven Halo Rings. Two of them were illuminated blue, the other four red, and one orange. "As you well know, the Infinity's mission after the end of the war was to search out and set up research stations on all of the seven Halo Rings with plans to glean as much information about them as we could before permanently decommissioning them. High command doesn't want that level of power just left to float throughout the universe unchecked." He explained tersely.

"Furthermore, that same mission statement extends to all other Forerunner installations as well. The untold number of ancient weapons and ships that had been left abandoned cannot be allowed to fall into enemy hands. If the remnants of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant were to gain control over any of the arrays without our knowledge, another war could break out beyond our control."

He sighed, turning to look out the massive ship's viewing port. "The UNSC lost so much of its fleet by the end of the war, and we are not in a position to launch another interplanetary war with the Covenant should they gain access to any of these ancient powers. So it's been a race to track down the remaining Forerunner installations to gain everything we can from them before our enemies do."

Samus hummed in thought, holding a claw to her chin. "This makes sense. However, what does Requiem contain that should stay your feet here? It is doomed within less than two days from now, and both the Composer and the Didact have already been destroyed. Whatever ship assembly systems may remain will be lost to the sun as well." She explained simply, quirking her black lips as she locked eyes with the captain once more.

"The Storm Covenant came to this damned planet because they had believed it to be the home of one of their gods. And while misguided, they had been correct." Andrew grumbled out, before bringing up a hologram of a particularly dangerous Elite. "If that had been the only reason they had arrived here, then after their Didact's defeat they should have no further reason to stay and fight here. Every day they lose more and more of their soldiers to the UNSC in a losing conflict."

Samus could see what he meant, and at face value thee wasn't anything left for the Covenant here. But she had a feeling that she didn't have every piece of the puzzle, and she was about to be clued into what it was.

"The Covenant's supreme leader, Jul 'Mdama believes that there is a map on this world that leads to the realtime location of every single recorded piece of Forerunner technology in the entire universe." Aine chose that moment to speak up, drawing all eyes to her small golden holographic body. She stood beside Cortana, the other artificial woman looking grim at the thought.

"I find the fact that a map to the entirety of the Forerunners technology was left behind on a lone shield world hard to believe." Samus muttered at the thought.

"So did command when they learned why the Covenant were after this world. We believed them delusional, but more insight has come forth that has given proof to the claims." Del Rio explained, before bringing up a video recording. It was of an Elite Zealot and a Jackal Major, the two appearing seemingly no different to the endless sea of alien soldiers used against them during the war. But, then some struck her about their appearance, something familiar.

"I know those two…" Samus breathed, trying to recall when and where she'd seen their faces before. It was hard to tell at first glance, but she was absolutely positive that she'd seen them some time ago during the original war on Requiem.

Del Rio smirked. "Funny, they seemed to say the same about you." He humored her, pulling her attention once more. "They reached out to one of our scouting teams two days ago, and after managing to defuse the battle that had justifiably sprung up between them, they informed us of their allegiance. Apparently you had encountered them over six months ago on Requiem, shortly after you and the Master Chief crashed. After you spared their lives they'd attempted to flee the planet but found little success."

"They've stuck together after their encounter with you and have been biding their time within Jul 'Mdama's Covenant until a chance arose that they could return the favor to you for saving them." Aine explained. "It is through their efforts that we have confirmed the existence of the Janus Key, the artifact they are after, and have provided us critical intel on their current military operations."

"One again your trend to spare those you see useful has come back to aid us in the future." The aged captain muttered.

"Where are they now?" The ex bounty hunter asked curiously.

"They are currently stationed on Jul's flagship, hidden somewhere on the other side of the planet. As of their most recent update, the Covenant doesn't know that they'd betrayed them yet. Hopefully we can keep it that way until the chance arrives to evac them out." Cortana chimed in helpfully.

Samus tilted her head downward at the information, pleased to find that her act of generosity some time ago had not gone unnoticed. She hadn't expected that they'd go so far for her, but she was not going to chastise them for risking themselves for her benefit. There would be two more open seats in her army for them warm and waiting once this was all over, if they made it out alive.

"Good." Samus almost purred, very pleased with the outcome of these events. "I see now the current situation." She hummed, nodding to herself as she set her sights on the captain again.

"Good. Then we can continue." He clicked his tongue. "We're running short on time and we need to get that map before the Covenant finds a way to bypass its security measures. Apparently they've already tracked down who's holding the key, but they've been unable to secure it."

The Master Chief's eyes widened. "The Librarian." He deduced correctly. "She's the only remaining Forerunner on this planet, or what's left of her. If they've captured her then there's no chance she will give them the key." He muttered gruffly. "They must be struggling to get through the security protocols set in place, even then I still don't think it's a smart idea to give them the time."

"My thoughts exactly, Master Chief. Which is why I'm sending you and a team in to secure the Librarian and the key before they can find away around it." Del Rio muttered sharply. "Get in there, secure that Forerunner A.I. and get the hell out of there before this planet drags us all to hell." He ordered sharply.

"Sir, yes sir." The Spartan nodded firmly, determined to see this mission to the end. He cast a glance toward's Samus, curious so as to what her role in this mission was going to be.

Del Rio stepped forward, hands clasped tightly behind his back as he approached the super carrier condensed into human form that was the woman named Samus Aran, a woman that by this point in his career he trusted with his life. "Samus, I know I've already asked so much of one woman during this situation and the one that preceded it, but-" He started gruffly, but he was cut off when she spoke, interrupting him.

"With all due respect, Captain, I've been the one offering assistance this entire time." She cut him off with a curt smile. "You have me here now, and I don't plan on vacating until I see this man and this ship off this planet, sir." She clarified firmly, making her place in this universe very clear to him and all who bore witness to her words. "So then, shall we skip the pleasantries and cut to the chase?" She offered helpfully, smirking mildly as the man grinned at her attitude.

"My thoughts exactly, Samus." It was Lasky who next spoke up, stepping forward as Del Rio gave him the go ahead. "While the Chief is handling the Janis Key we want you pulling their attention. Give the Covenant something to shoot at while a Spartan Fireteam inserts behind enemy lines and secures the artifact before they get their hands on it." The brown haired man explained with a terse yet familiar smile.

Samus smiled down at the shorter man, tail tightening around John's inner thigh. "If you were anyone else telling me to act as a decoy I'd be offended." She replied with a curt voice, yet he managed to pick up on the hint of amusement in her tone, subdued as her voice was as always.

"The Covenant stationed here are crippled but dangerous. Don't put it past them to pull out all the stops against you." Lasky warned as she and the Master Chief began their journey to their separate objectives. However, before they could leave, he had something else to add. "And Samus…" He called out, catching her as she stepped into the elevator. "The Flood aren't done. We were lucky today." He warned, getting a slight eye widen from her behind her visor.

Samus blinked, but didn't say anything besides offering a short curt nod as she turned around towards the vastness of space, galaxies stretching beyond her in every conceivable direction. Her eyes widened in disbelief, but she couldn't breathe, couldn't move. The bridge was gone, nothing else remained but the vastness of the endless darkness dotted by the light of a billion stars.

Everything felt cold.

Everyone was gone…

Everything had changed.

"John?" The name left her mouth on instinct, her tail tightening around what she'd thought had been his leg, but now nothing remained. Her head ached, a pain feeling as if it were splitting her into a million pieces. She closed her eyes, and the scene changed.

Ships flew overhead, the familiar insignia of the UNSC plastered over the sides. They were chasing something or someone, or at least she'd thought they were…

But…

That's when she realized that they were running. In pursuit were corpses, tainted vessels that outnumbered them ten to one. One by one she witnessed them consumed, changed, corrupted. Nothing remained pure, everything was corrupted, everything was consumed.

She blinked and again everything changed, a singular planet hovering right before her. It was brown and pulsating, changed and wrong, desolate and devoid of life. It took her a breath to realize that it was earth, or perhaps once upon a time it had been. The floating lifeless obelisk that hovered in the vastness of space before her contained no semblance of life anymore.

Save for the color, it felt as if she was looking at Phaaze. A world so consumed by death that not even a skeleton remained.

"Samus? What's wrong?" John asked, pulling her attention to the side as he stepped into view. She blinked and everything was gone again, the bridge of the Infinity appearing once again.

The Spartan placed a hand on her shoulder, the metal fingers of his prosthetic arm tightening around her otherwise smaller bicep in response to her silence. He had been sure she was following him towards the elevator, but she was there one moment then frozen in place the very next. A curious glance inside her visor left him feeling uneasy, her eyes dull and frozen in time, looking straight through him as if he wasn't there…

No, that wasn't quite right…

It was as if she wasn't there at all, merely a ghost of herself standing in her place. She didn't even blink, chest didn't shift at all, she didn't breathe. It was as if someone had hit pause on her entire being all at once, and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. It was only once he physically interacted with her did he finally get a response, the slight twitch as if spooked by his sudden presence.

Samus blinked back to the present, turning to look over at the man beside her. Although she could not see through his visor she could feel the worry in his stance, concern for her in his tone. She inhaled a short breath before she addressed him in response to his questions. "It's nothing." Came her short, curt response that seemed to cut the conversation pertaining to whatever it was short. "We should get going, we have little time to dither." She clicked her tongue as she moved to make her way onto the elevator, but she didn't pull away from him as his hand fell back to his side.

Something had to have happened to have conjured up such a strange reaction out of her, yet she didn't seem all too keen on sharing. Stepping onto the elevator he was met with silence, her gaze open and vulnerable as the doors shut in front of them. He knew that it was weighing on her mind for a plethora of reasons, but the reason that drew his attention most was her tail, stock still laying forgotten on the floor of the elevator.

"The captain is gone now, so tell me what happened." He said once their relative privacy was restored, his voice leaving no room for an argument. She hadn't expected him to be so commanding with her, but she wasn't going to argue with him. She took in another long breath as her tail rose to wrap around her waistline once more.

"I had a vision." She found herself a little surprised by how easily she opened up to him without so much as a peep, doing as he told her to almost on autopilot. Clearing her throat she went to elaborate further on what she meant. "Or perhaps, I guess it would be better to say that it was a glimpse into something…"

"A vision?" He parroted curiously, lips curled down in a frown.

She shook her head helplessly, raising her claws to hold her forehead as she felt what seemed to be a deeply ingrained headache split through her just like before. "It was- I don't know." She tried, but she couldn't explain it.

She knew what she saw, what she felt.

Samus Aran didn't daydream.

The Accused Hunter didn't lose her head in the clouds.

The Entrusted One wasn't losing her grip on reality.

The Protector of the Galaxy wasn't crazy…

But she knew what she saw was real, knew that it was as real as the man standing by her side, and as real as the vast wells of raw unbridled energy swelling within her chest.

Trying to aid her through whatever had occurred, he placed his hand on her shoulder in the space between her helmet and the bladed armor that surrounded it. "Samus, lead me through it. What did you see?" He asked firmly, thumb gripping the green carapace-like armor around her collarbone.

Her brows furrowed in concentration, but she had reached her answer through a different means. The Master Chief's surprised expression was hidden when he saw the ex Bounty Hunter's third eye atop her forehead open, a conscience that was not her own chose this moment to interject.

"Your concern over the images in your head are well founded, daughter. I find myself uneasy at the prospect posed by them as well." A deep feminine voice rumbled in the heads of both super soldiers, the Master Chief's eyes widening slightly in surprise at her familiar voice.

"The Queen…?" John murmured in surprise, her voice ringing out inside his head. In response to his words saw Samus's third eye turning to snap towards him, looking him up and down separate from the woman's own two eyes.

"Indeed, human." The voice rumbled, Samus's lone red eye glowing on her forehead. "I have stepped back after the battle with that foul creature, so forgive me if I have been silent." She hummed lowly.

Humility wasn't something that Samus had ever used to describe Queen Bee before, so it was adequate to describe her as more than a little surprised.

"Your breeding mate is one of two that have earned my respect and thus is offered the adequate respect of his position, daughter." The pointed and blunt response had a little heat rising to the ex Bounty Hunter's cheeks, but Samus didn't deny it. Giving John such a crass alias was beneath her.

"Your creators have the ability to peer into the future, see the realities yet to unfold. Their spirits have passed on the ability to you, but you have merely ignored them." The Queen's rumblings addressed the situation at face value. "What you just experienced was the first of those dreams…"

Samus's eyes shook in her skull, eyes staring blankly forward. Her hand unconsciously clenched tightly by her side, sparks flickering as her claws scraped against the armored palm of her hand in response.

Those visions?

The images of a desolate universe were…?

That's what awaited them...?

"How can she see into the future? That shouldn't be possible." The Spartan couldn't hide his bewilderment, but he wouldn't immediately dismiss the possibilities either. The Forerunners were a species so far beyond Humanity that things Halsey hadn't even dared to dream of thirty years ago were feats they accomplished in their sleep, so to speak.

But…

Premonitions?

It felt like it took a few steps beyond the extent of his ability to perceive reality. So Samus would have to forgive him if he seemed a bit unbelieving at first.

But…

She'd done things even the Forerunners hadn't ever accomplished in their entire history, so perhaps it wasn't impossible to out rule such an ability. More than that, the severity of doing so may prove to be something he should not have ignored.

"Samus…" He started again, grabbing her hand with his own, pulling her from her downward spiraling thoughts. "What did you see?" He urged her to answer him.

She lowered her head, claws tightening around his metal hand. Her eyes quivered in her skull, a mix of fear, uncertainty, and anger radiating off of her in spades. "I saw earth… the UNSC, the universe..." She muttered, pulling away from him as the elevator doors slid open not a moment too soon as she stepped through them. "It had all been consumed…" Came her response, the look in her eyes dangerous, determined. She had a job to do, and she was only just beginning to realize the full understanding of what that truly meant.

After all, she'd changed every future the Chozo had ever seen before. If she had to do so again then not even the gods of this universe were going to fucking stop her...

Chapter

52

End